Brigitte Calls Me Baby Solidify Their Sonic Signature With "Irreversible"
Photo by Scarlet Page
It’s rare when a band arrives with a vision as fully realized and stylized as Brigitte Calls Me Baby. While Chicago is the birthplace of this new addition to the city’s musical tapestry, the band carries a timeless familiarity that pays homage to the New Romanticism found in The Cure, Morrissey and Fontaines D.C. (the latter two of whom they’ve shared a bill with). Make no mistake, homage is not their sole identity.
With their sophomore release Irreversible the group is fully embracing a sonic signature of their own, building on the momentum of their well-acclaimed debut The Future Is On Our Way Out. The project is helmed by the serene, wistful yearning of frontman Wes Leavins, whose introspective cadence falls into a perfect tension with a hi-octane melody.
“Slumber Party” is the star of the project, and finds Leavin’s brooding cadence backed with a driving guitar and drums, a plunge into the cavernous depths of seclusion, navigating heavy thematic territory that most most bands typically don’t go. Tinged with sharp meta-commentary such as,“I brought Blue Velvet on DVD and brought it to the slumber party// Oh everyone knows, that’s what makes it harder.” The track then cascades into the evocative lure of a lovelorn, somber chant. “What if I was there knockin’ on your door? // Would you let me in? Would you ignore?”. On the single, Leavins shares that he “wrote that song thinking about the type of people who isolate and ruminate, to the point where it becomes a chore to leave the home.” The track just hits, and is rife with angst that feels deeply cinematic and (chillingly) relatable.
“I Danced With Another Love In My Dream” is another highlight of the project, with a shimmering percussion that melts into a dizzying collision of guitars, and a tale of infidelity. On the track, Wes Leavins shares. “That song started with us attempting to write something happy, but somehow found its way to being about infidelity. We played a few different versions live and in the end decided to lean into the bright and shiny side of it, and it turned into a song where those adulterous thoughts are carried out in a dream scenario.” The result is a surreal and melancholic trip of a track, and is an instant replay.
Accompanying the release of Irreversible, the band is hitting the pavement for a stateside run this spring fresh off a stint as support for The Vaccines and a string of headlining shows across Europe. This isn’t a typical tour, but a victory lap for a band that’s hit their stride. If this is the future of the alt-rock resurgence, we are beyond excited to see where the alt-rock quintet goes next.
Listen to Irreversible below:
